


Swinging Beside You

by Penutbuttercups



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Character Death, Childhood, Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Graduation, Growing Up, Heartbreak, Hurt/Comfort, Post Season 5, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-02-10
Packaged: 2018-05-19 12:12:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5967028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Penutbuttercups/pseuds/Penutbuttercups
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on a prompt from Stydia-Fanfiction on Tumblr: Stiles and Lydia remember a moment they had in the third grade where Stiles was devastated because of his mom and Lydia tries to make him feel better. And that's how the love Stiles has for her grew.</p><p>A look at the start of the  famous crush from Lydia's perspective.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Swinging Beside You

For Beacon Hills, beautiful days were few and far between. Stiles had to wonder how the place managed to stay together after everything the Dread Doctors had put them through. Frankly, he’s even more surprised that they all managed to stay together. Despite the odds, no one had died, the worst of their injuries had already healed over. Lydia’s hair was even beginning to come back in over the once scabbed patch. She did a good job hiding the short fuzz most of the time, but ever so often it would peak out and send a chill down his spine at the thought of its cause. 

His keeping-the-pack-together plan was back in action and going forward in spite of the fact that they had all missed enough school to keep them back a year. They managed to get a half dozen written off as sick days, Lydia got a pass on all of them for obvious reasons. They had to hold pack study sessions for three weeks straight just to get them all caught up. He really is more surprised that they handled that than all of the supernatural crap. 

He flips the leather diploma folder open again. Almost anticipating it would disappear since leaving graduation. Or he’d realize there was a fine print like “JK! Your ass better actually be in science come next fall!!”

“It's real Stiles.” Lydia quipped.

He looked up from the paper at the sound of her voice. He still felt a little tinge of surprise to see Lydia. Saving her hadn't gone as planned in more ways than one. After they’d made it out of Eichen House she was physically drained and terribly weak. Deaton claimed part of it was due to her extreme usage of power and partially due to the catatonic states natural effect on her body. She was put in the hospital until she was able to stand on her own two feet again, both figuratively and literally. They took turns sitting with her, day to day until she was feeling up to heading back to school. 

“You sure? I mean, I know yours is. You could have graduated last fall if you really wanted to,” He says with a smile. She laughs looking ahead on the empty street. “But mine? I’ll be honest, I think they just didn't want to have to deal with me for another year.”

“I would disagree, but there is a definite possibility that that is the case,” She added teasingly as she began to walk ahead of him.

Stiles had been riddled with anxiety the entire time she was in the hospital. It was like it was happening all over again; visiting the hospital every day, the constant worry that something could change so quickly, and could take someone he cared about away from him. He couldn’t handle that kind of stress again. He tried to remind himself that the circumstances were different. His mother had a terminal illness. Lydia was recovering and, according to Melissa, was doing better than anyone could anticipate. It didn’t really ease his anxiety. He knows that’s why Scott didn't comment when he changed the rotation so he'd be bedside a little more regularly.

“Oh really?” He asked with a smirk as she skipped along passing the Beacon Hill elementary school.

“Hey! You said it not me!” She laughed. “That was definitely the case at our fifth-grade graduation, though.” She jokes pointing to their old school. 

“Excuse me!” He said with fake offense. “You didn't even acknowledge my existence at that point. How would know?” He said it teasingly, but it didn't make the memory hurt any less. Even though she was now one of his best friends.

That had been the other change following their return to calm. He had been friends with Lydia for a while, but over the past year, he knew they had lost that close-knit friendship they once shared. He’d devoted a lot of time to Malia and that meant less time with Lydia. Their dynamic had changed and while he missed their friendship, he couldn't keep waiting for something to change between them. 

They seamless had fallen back into sync, though. Lydia was surprised to learn that he’d broken up with Malia. He’d been scared to tell her about Donovan. She let him avoid the topic for a few weeks until she forced him to sit down and talk to her. He started to finally feel a little more himself after that conversation. She didn’t say anything in particular at first, just let him vent, and then cry, and she stayed. It was what he needed. Not to hear more placating comments about ‘how it would all be okay’, but to know that his friend would still be there for him. 

“That wasn’t even my fault!” Lydia said defensively, making him look up in surprise. “Blame Molly Lawerence.”

“Molly Lawerence? She was a year older than us?” He was pretty lost at this point. Lydia glanced at him. She looked exasperated. “Care to explain?”

“Not particularly,” She said with a sigh. “But fine.”

__________________________________________________________________________

As Ms. Akraine’s third-grade class line leader, Lydia had certain privileges provided to her. And while Lydia didn't see the value in most of them, her mother packed her an organic fair trade meal so being first on the lunch line was of no real use, she did take advantage where she could.

For Lydia, that meant optimizing her chances of beating the goofy boy with the really long name to the swings. The goofy boy was in Mrs. Parks class. He was taller than the rest of the third graders and his long limbs made Lydia think of a giraffe. More specifically a baby giraffe, when its first born and isn’t sure how to walk yet. 

Goofy boy with the really long name is well known for many reasons in Beacon Hill elementary. Infamous, that was a new word Lydia learned in hear advanced reader’s book, and she thinks it suits him.

He had started the great food fight of October that ruined her new white sweater and the revenge food fight of December that got tuna surprise stuck in her hair. He was once said to have let a flock of geese into the school. She remembers her mother telling her he pantsed Mrs. Greenberg’s son in the middle of a game of kickball. She hears he is the ‘ultimate prankster’. 

Lydia wasn’t quite sure of his name. She’d heard her mother say it once, M something. But his friend the shy boy with bushy brown hair called him something else. Lydia decides to call him nemesis boy, for now, that, is until she has successfully beaten him to the swings again. Then she will call him loser boy. 

You see every day the two dash from the doors of the school, dodging fourth graders and bounce balls, past kids whizzing down slides and trading game cards as they race to the far swing under the big tree. The one swing whose bright orange seat is just a few inches higher off the ground than all the rest.The goofy boy needed the few inches so his legs wouldn't end up dragging against the wood chips the whole time. Lydia enjoyed the view, the extra height brought her so close to the leaves of the big tree she swore she’d be able to just reach out and rip one off. 

She would one of these days too. As long as she beat the goofy boy with the really long name to the swing again. They’ve raced almost every day for the school year and it's been nearly 50/50. His limbs provide a definite advantage. That’s why her line leader role was so vital. The classes exited in alphabetical order for recess; Ms. Akraine, Mr. Higgins, Mrs.Owens, Mrs. Parks, and Mr. Thomas. Being line leader meant, in addition to her being the first class out, she was the first one out the gates. 

Yet, somehow he still beat her some days. She thinks he must sneak out with other classes to get out sooner. That or he has supernatural powers or something, but Lydia knows that’s all make-believe. 

Today would be the day she’d think as she’d run as fast as her tiny legs can carry her across the asphalt lot housing a kickball game, and then past the jam-packed playground and down the row of occupied swings as her hair blows wildly around her. She stops just short when she sees the bright and triumphant grin of her nemesis sitting in her swing. He smiles wider as she scrunches up her face and stomps her feet in the wood chips. 

“Better luck next time Little Mermaid!” He says as he pushes off the ground with his first swing. His laughter echoes as he rises. Lydia grumbles backing away in defeat. She figures she’ll just have to play hopscotch today. 

When she feels a poke on her shoulder following the whistle signaling the end of recess she doesn’t think anything of it with everyone rushing to make it inside. When it happens again she turns to meet the same bright smile from earlier looking back at her. She tilts her head confused. They’d never spoken outside of official swing related business. 

“I thought you might like this,” He says before handing her a leaf. She takes it, not really sure what it is. She turns it over in her hand, a plain old leaf. “I know you’re always reaching for one,” He adds. She looks back up at him his smile no longer wide and happy, he looks shy. She liked his smile more. More than that she’s shocked that he could reach the big tree when she never could!

“How’d y…” she starts but another whistle blows.

“Well, gotta go!” He says as begins to make a dash towards the door chasing after his bushy-haired friend. Before he reaches the door he turns back to Lydia who is still standing in shock. “See you tomorrow!” He quips with an adorable grin. She can’t help but smile back just as wide. She thinks she’ll call him the goofy boy with the cute smile from now on.

She makes sure to finish her lunch extra early the next day to get their line started. Her classmates follow her lead and were ready and out the door long before Mrs. Parks had even started to call her class. She can see him itching to move in his seat as she heads out the door. Lydia knew this would not be enough to stop the boy with the adorable dimples so she ran her heart out just the same.

To her satisfaction, the effort was worth it to see him almost trip over his legs in surprise at seeing her already in full swing. She gave him a front toothless grin as she waved with one hand. 

“Better luck next time I believe?” Lydia called to the boy. He chuckled at her smiling a little before waving back. And with that, he ran off in the direction of the shy puffy brown haired boy on the kickball court. She wasn’t sure why, but the victory didn't feel as sweet as she would have liked it too. 

On Monday, it was the big third-grade state math test. Lydia had been prepping for this tests for months. Practice exams, extra homework, she’d done it all. She was still nervous, though. She’d sharpened over six No. 2 pencils and had two backup erasers, just to be safe. You never know what could happen. 

Lydia thought she probably did okay on the exam, but she was still a little on edge at lunch nonetheless. She didn't look for his goofy smile before heading out for recess. She acted, as usual, running across the lot to the empty swing. She felt relief that her day was changing at the site of the empty seat. 

She sat down swinging easily. Today was not a day for reaching for the sky. She just wanted to go easy. But she still wanted to rub it in his cute little face that she’d beaten him twice in a row! When 15 minutes had passed though she began to wonder where he might be. 

He had never been absent before. She’d only missed one day with the flu last month. She looked around wondering if he might be playing a trick on her for the swing. He had tried that once before and succeed, she wasn’t going to fall for that again. When another 10 minutes had passed though she knew he must be absent then. She should have known this day would be only more disappointing.

By Friday, she was missing his goofy grin. As she exited for recess she decided to find out what was happening and fix it. His absence was ruining her recess and, in turn, ruining her school day. She made her way to the kickball field in search of his friend, he must know where he had been. 

She spots the mop of brown hair from a mile away. His hair is so long and unkept it keeps falling in his eyes. She heads through the crowds timidly to him. The boys part like a sea for Moses looking perplexed at her presence. He’s in a conversation with two other boys she doesn’t recognize with his back to her. She taps him lightly on the shoulder. He spins around looking surprised when he sees her. 

“Umm, Hi…?” She mumbles dumbly. She not sure where to look. 

“Scott,” he notes. “You’re the mermaid girl.” He gives a light smile at her. It makes her less nervous. 

“I am Lydia. But umm, Mermaid girl?” Lydia never understood how he’d known about her love of Princess Ariel. 

“Yeah, you had a Little Mermaid backpack last year. Right? Stiles thought you look liked her.” He explains laughing at first. He stops abruptly before faking a cough and kicking a few loose pebbles. 

“Your friend the one who normally is on the swing…” She starts unsure if her cute boy is Stiles or not. 

“Stiles! That’s him. He’s not great a kickball.” Scott nods scratching his messy hair. 

“Is…is he okay?” She asks more timidly. “I don't mean to pry. It’s just he hasn't been here for a few weeks now and I was just wondering if he’s on vacation or sick or I don’t know something …”

Scott grabs her as her hands as she's beginning to flail in the middle of her rambling. She has a tendency to talk with her hands it’s a habit she’s been trying to break, but once her mouth gets ahead of her head so do her hands.

“It’s umm…Cla…His mother. She’s been sick for a while, but she's really not doing well right now.” Scott adds with a gulp. Lydia can feel her eyes going wide and her jaw going slack before she can stop them. She tries to regain composure as she sees Scott’s features set further with sadness. His eyes drop to the ground.

“When you say she’s ‘really not doing well’ you mean she’s going to, well?” Lydia looks away. She shouldn’t have asked she barely knows this boy or his friend and here she is prying for details. She should leave. Right now. Just say she’s sorry and walk away before she says something else.

“My moms a nurse,” Scott’s voice interrupts her thoughts. “She said just because someone is alive doesn’t mean they can live. That’s what happened to Mrs. Stilinski. She’s in too much pain to really live.” Scott’s eyes were going glassy. Lydia nodded. She tried to understand. But she knew she didn’t.

“That sucks,” She says sadly, unsure of what to add.

“Yeah,” Scott coughs out. “Really sucks.”

He doesn’t come back to school for another week and a half. Lydia doesn’t swing as much during that time. Just sort of sits there on the swing pushing on the ground back and forth. Never taking her feet off the wood chips. She doesn’t look up to the big tree anymore.

She waves hi to Scott when she sees him from time to time. He seems sad still. When he misses school one day she knows immediately what has happened. She asks her mother about it. She hates that she was right. Her mother asks if they’re friends. She isn’t quite sure what to say. She says she thinks so before grabbing a snack and starting her science homework. 

She sees him at lunch the day after the funeral. He looks tired. His face is so pale she worries he might also be dying. The circles under his eyes stand out in dark contrast. He looks older to her, more worn out. His eyes are still red. Absolutely bloodshot. He keeps wiping his nose, it's beginning to turn a matching bright red to his eyes. She tries not to stare. She missed him. She realizes she still misses his smile most. 

She heads out at recess making her way to the back swing. She’s in no rush. She doubts he is either. She beats him there, she isn’t surprised. She decides to wait next to the swing for him. She spots him walking her way head down hands in his pockets. She bites her lip unsure of how to handle such a situation. Despite herself, she decides to go with her gut. 

“Stiles!” She screams. He looks up at her immediately. So does the entire playground. She regrets her choice instantly. He looks confused, his mouth fixed in an ‘O’ shape, as he continues towards her. She closes her eyes trying to regain some composure. 

“Hey, Little Mermaid?” He asks rather than says. She should have just left him be. 

“Umm Hi,” She mumbles pushing a stray curl behind her ear. “You umm missed a few turns. On the umm swing.” She looks away at the piece of metal blowing in the wind next to them.

“Yeah. Guess you got a few extra, huh?” He asks. His voice is dry. There is no emotion to it. It feels like cardboard. Lydia doesn’t like it. 

“Do you want to go today?” She asks. “To make up for it.”

“I don’t really feel like swinging today,” He says. She can hear the sadness creeping into his voice. It makes her heartbeat heavy.

“I can push you!” She offers instead. She looks at him with wide eyes and trying her best to offer a hand to a friend she may or may not even have. She becomes exceedingly concerned when his face breaks. She sees a hint of a smile twinge at his lips. And then suddenly he's laughing. Full belly laughing. She thinks he's having a breakdown. She has a hard time not smiling though when he looks at her with a wide toothy grin. 

“Sorry,” He says between bouts of laughter as he wipes a few tears from his eyes. “Sorry. No thanks, you don’t have to push me.” He chuckles more after saying it. Lydia makes a tight-lipped smile. 

“I could if you wanted me to…” She mumbles. He begins to laugh more. 

“Whatever you say, Ariel.” He quips as he begins to regain his composure. 

“It’s Lydia,” She adds. 

“Lydia,” He says with a smile. “You sure you’re not Ariel? No tail?” She laughs with him, this time, feeling more at ease as she used to. 

“If you don't want to swing, and you don’t want me to push you,” he laughs again but hushes up when he sees the look she's giving him and smiles as he mimes locking and throwing away the key. “Then would you want to, maybe, push me instead?” She asks. 

He looks at her calmly. She can see so clearly how tired he is; not just physically, but emotionally. It’s almost as though she can feel the wait drifting onto her shoulders as she stares him in the eye. He nods his head and gives her a smile. And she can feel some of his tension seem to dissipate. He walks to the swing still blowing in the breeze and holds it for her. She sits without another word. They fall into a rhythm almost instantly. And up towards the tree branches, she goes. 

They keep up the pattern for the rest of the year. Lydia waits for Stiles and Scott outside the door to the school after lunch Lydia and Stiles wave Scott off before they head off to their swing. Normally they talk about school, or sports, or Stiles newest video game, or how Lydia’s piano lessons are going. 

They keep their conversations light. They don’t talk about it. Lydia knows he doesn’t want someone else prying. She tries to be respectful. He appreciates that. He likes to know that if he needed someone to talk to she’d listen. But right now he’d rather talk about how she can’t understand people who overuse highlighters, much like himself he hates to tell her.

Every day they switch off. Stiles will push Lydia and try to help her reach the big tree leaves. Lydia sometimes pushes Stiles most of the time she’ll sit on the swing next to him and talk while he watches the kickball game. 

Lydia enjoys their friendship until Molly Lawerence and her fifth-grade friends tease her for having a crush on Stiles. She doesn’t though, boys are gross. Her and Stiles are only friends. She just thinks he has a cute smile. And warm eyes. And a really sweet laugh. And she likes to talk to him. But they’re just friends. She doesn’t like boys, they have cooties. 

With Molly and her friends teasing Lydia relentlessly she stops hanging out with Stiles so much hoping they might back off. She sees him wait for her at the swing while she takes a turn down the slide. She waves to him. He looks sad, but not surprised. He waves back before heading towards the kickball field. By the time Molly has finally forgotten about teasing Lydia, Stiles has made a whole new group of friends with Scott. 

Lydia tries to say hi to the duo one day to a round of ‘oohs’. Stiles looks uncomfortable, Scott seems more confused. She gets the point and says goodbye. She heads towards the swing again for the first time in a long time. She already misses his goofy smile. But she's still got a big tree to reach for. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Stiles glanced at the empty playground with a sad smile. He remembered all those days with Lydia on the swings. It had been around then that the ten-year plan had been devised. A childhood fantasy. 

He too had heard his fair share of teasing about their early friendship. But his mother had always been great at advice. Among their, last coherent conversations he shared with her that he thought the girl with the fiery hair who was always reaching for something better looked as pretty as Princess Ariel. When he told her about the boys picking on him he remembers her words vividly, “Sweetie, you should never be ashamed of love.” He thinks as a boy, and most definitely as a teenager, he took those words a little too seriously sometimes. 

Losing his mother had been one of the hardest things in his whole life. Despite his fathers best effort he just couldn’t talk to him about it, they both were too upset. Melissa made an effort, but it made him uncomfortable talking to her about it. Scott was on track to be Mr.Positivity even in third grade, and Stiles was attuned to pessimism at that point. His dad wanted him to go to a counselor, which he did, but it wasn’t what he needed.

He remembered the day she called out his name. It was the day he knew he was in love with her. Because she didn't ask about it even though Scott told him about her asking. She was just there. She made sure she was there even when he tried to avoid her. For most people, it might seem like a small gesture, but it was just what he needed. It was like she knew. She’s always known how to help him. It’s the only reason he wasn’t surprised when Deaton said they were emotionally tethered, she’s always been able to read him and it was nice to put a name to that sort of connection. 

“You want first go?” Lydia asked turning from him and nodding towards the row of swings. She turned back with a smile before heading into the little playground. “To make up for it.”

“Hmm, I don’t really feel like swinging today,” He said jokingly as he followed her. Laughing as he watched her skip her way to the swings.

“I can push you!” She shouted back laughing. He smiles at the sight of her leaping and coming to halt with her back to the swing and a smug look on her face. He lets out a chuckle at how triumphant she still looks. 

“No thanks,” He chides as he comes to stand in front of her. “You don’t have to push me.”

“I could if you wanted me to.” Her tone more serious. He wonders if they’re still talking about swinging. 

“I don’t doubt you in the slightest Ariel.” Her face breaks into a warm smile at the old nickname. He can feel himself mimic her. 

“If you don't want to swing, and you don’t want me to push you, then would you want to push me instead?” She quips taking one step closer to him. He nods his head but doesn’t move. She tilts her head in confusion and quirks an eyebrow, a teasing smile playing on her lips. 

He reaches a hand out tilting her chin slowly. He weaves his finger into the hair at the base of her scalp near her ear as his thumb traces patterns. He’s never noticed the yellow ring of color around her pupil, but now looking into her eyes, he wonders how he ever missed it. Her cheeks turn a light shade of pink under his fingertips. He lets out a silent chuckle. She darts her tongue out licking her lips quickly. He knows it’s a nervous habit of hers, he’s seen her do it hundreds of times, but now it's consuming him. And without much thought, he’s leaning in and kissing her.  
He can feel her gasp against his lips and he thinks about pulling back. And then he feels her arms encircling him holding him closer as she returns his kiss. He hates cliches, but he gets why people keep using the one about fireworks. More than that is a magnetism he can’t explain. He’s drawn to her like a drowning man to a first birth. He needs her. He thinks she needs him too. 

She places a chaste kiss on his lips before pulling back. She takes a breath and leans her head against his keeping her eyes closed. He could look at her for the rest of his life just like this and be content. She opens her eyes, he can feel her eyelashes against his skin. They twinkle in the glow of the setting sun and he can feel himself getting lost in them.

“What was that?” Lydia asks seriously but hinted with teasing.

“Thank you,” He says it just above a whisper. He can feel her shiver against him.

“For?” Her breath dances across his skin bringing goosebumps to the surface. 

“Just being there.” He finally holds her eye contact. The tension weighs on him, he can feel their heavy breath falling in sync. 

“Always,” She smiled. “But we were already even on that.” She jokes again with a grin. He smiles sincerely. She bites back her toothy grin and returns a heartfelt smile. He runs his hand up her back before pulling her into him. He holds her tightly ducking his head into her neck. 

“Doesn’t hurt, to say it.” He can feel her smile against his neck before she pressed a light peck. She runs her fingers through his scalp. He’s hasn’t felt so at home in a long time. 

“You are one of the most important people in my life,” she says into his ear. The words warm him. 

“I know.” He’s not sure how, but he did. He always has known she’s probably the most important in his life too. 

“Doesn’t hurt, to say it.” She teases ruffling his hair. He chuckles against her skin. A moment of silence hangs heavy between them. He presses a kiss to her neck with a smile. 

He can tell that once again things between them have changed. But right now isn’t the time to talk about it. For now, they’ll just be here, with each other, like they always have been. Just being what the other needs for the moment. They’ll talk eventually when they’re both ready. 

“Come on Stilinski,” She says pushing off him with a smile he’s not sure he's ever seen before but he's certain holds the secrets of the universe. “We got a tree to reach!” 

She rushes to sit down. Her laughter swirls around him like a song. He feels like he's been drugged and he’s pretty sure this is the best high the world has ever known. He moves to walk behind her. But she reaches out and grabs his hand. She yanks him down with all the strength in her tiny body. He stumbles, but catches himself and falls into a squat in front of her. She takes his face in her hands. She smiles at him, and he can feel the air rush back into his body. She pulls him into a soft peck. Their lips barely touching. Somehow it conveys more than anything they’ve ever said or done. Like an unspoken promise. He’s never been so happy to have a crush on the girl from the third grade, who raced him to the swings and yelled his names on the one day he’d wished the world would swallow him whole and stood by his side instead.


End file.
